Children hospitalized after Tonasket-area crash

TONASKET  Three children were hospitalized Saturday after they were injured in a vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 97 near O’Neil Road, about 11 miles north of town.

The crash was one of three over the weekend involving drivers from Okanogan County.

The SUV’s driver, Rodimiro Bejar-Alvarez, 32, of Tonasket, was taken by ambulance to North Valley Hospital.

All three children, ages 5, 7 and 9, were airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Their names were not released by the Washington State Patrol.

Bejar-Alvarez was southbound at noon when his vehicle swerved to avoid a collision with a vehicle attempting to turn left onto O’Neil Road, the patrol said.

The SUV overturned and came to rest on its top in the southbound ditch.

Bejar-Alvarez was wearing a seatbelt. The children were not restrained, the patrol said.

No citations were issued; the crash’s cause is under investigation.

Neither drugs nor alcohol were not involved, the patrol said.

In a second area crash, an Okanogan man was injured Saturday when his pickup truck went off Havillah Road and hit a tree.

Richard B. Salsky, 71, was taken by ambulance to North Valley Hospital, the patrol said.

Salsky was eastbound on Havillah Road, 8.6 miles east of town, at 7:28 p.m. when his truck went off the road to the right and hit the tree, the patrol said. It came to rest off the road on its wheels.

The patrol said drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash and Salsky was cited for driving under the influence.

The patrol didn't know if Salsky was wearing a seatbelt.

His truck, which was destroyed, was impounded.

Omak man involved in Wenatchee crash

In a crash Friday, three people, including a man from Omak, were injured when their vehicles collided on state Highway 28 in East Wenatchee.

Cheryl L. Mason, 60, of Wenatchee, was waiting to turn left and stopped for traffic on the highway at South Quincy Avenue when her car was rear-ended at 8:36 a.m. by an SUV driven by Scott D. Bleau, 26, of Omak, the Washington State Patrol said.

Mason and a passenger, Jamie A. Mason, 33, of East Wenatchee, were taken by ambulance to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. Bleau was treated at the scene, the patrol said. All three were wearing seatbelts.

Bleau was cited for following too close; neither drugs nor alcohol were factors, the patrol said.